Spades: Play Online for Free (Solo & Multiplayer)

Play free Spades online against the computer, pair up with other players online or create a private table for you and your friends. Whichever way you choose, you're sure to have loads of fun playing this internet Spades game. If you have a competitive streak, you can join a ranked game to play against more experienced players.

Spades is a trick-taking game played by 4 people who are divided into teams of 2, with team players sitting across from each other. It's a timeless classic with a lot of similarities to Double Deck Pinochle. Teamwork, skillful bidding, and strategic cooperation are key to winning the game.

Rules

For people who haven't played the game before, we suggest looking through our thorough guide on how to play Spades, where you'll also find a helpful interactive tutorial that'll lead you through a game. If you're just looking for a brush-up on the rules, look no further!

The goal of the game is to get your team to 500 points. Cards are ranked from Ace being the highest value to 2 being the lowest. At the start of the game, each player is dealt 13 cards, and the player to the left of the dealer goes first. In each round, players bid on how many tricks they can take. Each team combines their bids to determine how many tricks they have to take to avoid negative points.

Players must follow the suit of the card that has been laid down before their turn. If they don't have that suit on hand, they can play any card, except a suit of Spades, on the first trick. A suit of Spades can be played once they've been "broken" and have become the "trump" suit.

After each hand, scores are calculated. A team will receive 10 points per trick bid if they meet or exceed their bid, with 1 point for each extra trick taken. If a team fails to meet their bid, they'll get 10 points deducted from their score for each trick bid. Every 10 extra tricks, also called bags, a team accumulates costs the team 100 points. The game ends when a team either reaches 500 points or falls below -200 points. The highest-scoring team wins.

Strategy

The Spades card game is a game of strategy, and not only that, it's a game of cooperation where you have to work with a teammate to win over the other team. Unlike games based on luck, the team that plays the best tends to win the game.

Once you've played for a while, we suggest reading through our thorough Spades Strategy Guide. Most of the strategies either relate to the bidding or playing process. We've summarized the most useful tips and tricks below.

Bidding:

• Keep an eye on what has already been bid by the time it gets to you. There are only 13 tricks available to take. If the total of all bids exceeds this, then one team is guaranteed not to make their bid. Make sure it's not your team!
• If you don't have a lot of bags, it may be good to bid 1 less than you think you can take. This allows you to cover for your opponent if needed, and you can always throw away cards.
• If your opponents have a lot of bags, you may wish to underbid and then force them to take tricks they do not want.
• If you are close to winning, you may want to be more conservative in your final bid to ensure you will meet your bid and still win. Just be careful of bags.
• Do not bid nil if your partner has already bid nil.
• If your partner already bid, and they bid nil, you may want to bid a little higher than you normally would, as you may be taking more tricks than usual as part of your duty to cover your partner.

Playing:

• In general, if you are the last person to play and your partner is already winning the trick, it's best not to steal the trick from them by playing a higher card or a trump.
• If your partner bids nil, make sure you play lots of high cards to cover them! If you play an Ace of Hearts, for example, and they only play a 2 of Hearts, then they likely don't have any more Hearts. Thus it is good to continue leading Heart cards so your partner can get rid of the high cards they have from other suits.
• If the bids are more than 13, then one team is guaranteed not to make their bid. In this situation, it is usually useful to lead Spades as soon as possible.
• More often than not, it's not the Spades that cause a team to be "set" but rather the cards that are played after the Spades.
• When the highest card in a suit is played, that is usually a good time to get rid of your middle cards (8, 9, 10).

Frequently asked questions

What is a trick, and what does it mean to lead a trick?

A trick is the pile of 4 cards collected by the player who placed the highest card in the pile. It also refers to a discrete phase in the game when each player plays one card. The person who plays the first card in a trick is said to lead the trick.

What is a bag, and what happens when a team rolls in Spades?

A bag is an extra trick taken above the team's initial bid. If a team collects 10 bags, it leads to a loss of 100 points, which is called rolling.

What does it mean to cover and duck?

Covering is playing a higher-ranking card to protect a partner who bid nil from taking a trick, while ducking is playing a lower-ranking card to avoid taking a trick when you have a higher card of the same suit.

What does it mean to be long or short in a suit, and what happens when a hand is void in a suit?

Being long in a suit means having more cards of that suit than average while being short means having fewer cards of that suit than average. A hand is void in a suit if it contains no cards of that suit.

What does it mean to be set, and how does it affect the game?

A team is set when they fail to make their bid. Setting an opponent means preventing them from making their bid, which can impact the game's outcome.

What do the terms being used by people in the chat mean?

In the chat, "gc" means "Good cover", "gcp" or "gc p" means "Good cover, partner", "nsp" or "ns p" means "nice set, partner", and "ns" means "nice set". These terms are used to compliment or communicate with partners during the game.